Evidently the U.S. Marshall Service (USMS) has offered the $6.3 million value of bitcoin that Samourai Pockets builders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill paid the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) as a payment that was a part of their responsible plea.
In doing so, it has probably violated Government Order (EO) 14233, which mandates that bitcoin acquired by way of legal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings needs to be held as a part of america’ Technique Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
If the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the federal judicial district by which the Samourai case was to be tried, did, the truth is, violate EO 14233, it might not be the primary time workers of the SDNY have acted in defiance of route from the federal authorities.
What Occurred to the Bitcoin?
In keeping with a doc titled “Asset Liquidation Settlement”, which has been obtained completely by Bitcoin Journal and has not till now been made public, the bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill forfeited is to be offered — or already has been.
As per the doc, the defendants agreed to switch $6,367,139.69 value of bitcoin — 57.55353033 bitcoin on the time the ultimate get together signed the settlement, which was Assistant United States Legal professional Cecilia Vogelon November 3, 2025 — to the USMS.
The bitcoin, which was despatched from handle bc1q4pntkz06z7xxvdcers09cyjqz5gf8ut4pua22r on November 3, 2025, appears to have bypassed any direct custody by the USMS. As a substitute, it appears to have been despatched on to Coinbase Prime handle 3Lz5ULL7nG7vv6nwc8kNnbjDmSnawKS3n8 (Arkham Intel attributes this handle to the brokerage), presumably to be offered.
This Coinbase Prime handle at present has a zero steadiness, indicating that the bitcoin might have already been offered.
Violating Government Order 14233
If the USMS has offered the forfeited bitcoin, it doubtless contravened EO 14233, which orders that bitcoin acquired by the U.S. authorities by way of legal forfeiture, termed “Authorities BTC” within the EO, “shall not be offered” and needs to be contributed into the U.S. SBR.
If the USMS offered the bitcoin, they did so at their very own discretion and never as a authorized mandate, which signifies that sure members of the DOJ should view bitcoin as a taboo asset to be offloaded versus a strategic asset that President Trump has directed authorities companies to retain.
Provided that the Samourai prosecution originated beneath the earlier administration, which was notoriously hostile towards noncustodial crypto instruments and their builders, the choice to disregard EO 14233 and promote the bitcoin regardless of a mandate from the manager department suits a sample of treating bitcoin as one thing that needs to be faraway from authorities steadiness sheets as quickly as doable.
Authorized Particulars Concerning the Forfeiture and Liquidation
In keeping with a authorized supply near this matter, the Samourai builders’ forfeited their bitcoin beneath 18 U.S. Code § 982(a)(1), which stipulates that any offense that violates 18 U.S. Code § 1960, the statute that prohibits the operation of unlicensed cash transmitting companies, orders that individual to forfeit to america any property concerned within the offense.
Judging by § 982 and its incorporation of 21 U.S.C. § 853(c), a legal forfeiture statute that stipulates that “property that’s subsequently transferred to an individual aside from the defendant stands out as the topic of a particular verdict of forfeiture and thereafter shall be ordered forfeited to america,” the bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill forfeited suits the EO’s definition of “Authorities BTC”.
Neither § 982 nor the integrated § 853 requires that property that’s forfeited as a part of a legal offense be liquidated. Moreover, the fund forfeiture statutes cited in part three of the EO — 31 U.S.C. § 9705 and 28 U.S.C. § 524(c) — regulate the place forfeiture proceeds are deposited and the way they might be used; they don’t require that forfeited bitcoin be transformed to money quite than held in sort.
The EO additionally stipulates that “Authorities BTC” falls beneath the umbrella of “Authorities Digital Property” and states that “the top of every company shall not promote or in any other case eliminate any Authorities Digital Property” besides in sure situations, none of which apply within the Rodriguez or Hill circumstances and, in all of which, the U.S. legal professional normal would play a job in figuring out what needs to be achieved with the forfeited digital belongings.
The Sovereign District of New York
When taking EO 14233 and the statutes cited on this article into consideration, the SDNY appears to have acted in a way that defies the EO 14233’s mandate to switch bitcoin obtained by way of legal forfeiture to the U.S. SBR.
This may not mark the primary time that the SDNY has acted in such a way.
The judicial jurisdiction, typically colloquially known as “Sovereign District of New York,” has earned a popularity for working independently and unilaterally, regardless of being a part of a federal system.
The truth that the SDNY proceeded with the circumstances towards Rodriguez and Hill in addition to the case towards Twister Money developer Roman Storm, is additional proof of this.
On April 7, 2025, Deputy Legal professional Normal Todd Blanche issued a memo entitled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution” by which he acknowledged “the Division [of Justice] will not goal digital foreign money exchanges, mixing and tumbling providers, and offline wallets for the acts of their finish customers…”
The SDNY appeared to ignore the language on this memo, although, because it proceeded with the Samourai Pockets or Twister Money circumstances.
And when the protection workforce for Hill and Rodrguez discovered as per a Brady request that two high-ranking members of the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN) “strongly recommended” that Samourai Pockets wasn’t serving as a cash transmitter as a result of noncustodial nature of the service, the prosecution proceeded anyway.
In relation to legal circumstances tried throughout the federal courtroom system, over 90% of defendants are convicted and sentenced, with as little as 0.4% being acquitted some years. And the prosecution for SDNY circumstances has a popularity for having a fair increased win price.
Rodriguez was conscious of those statistics, in addition to the truth that Choose Denise Cote, the choose who presided over his and Hill’s circumstances, has a popularity for harsh sentencing.
He instructed me as a lot the morning earlier than he pleaded responsible to the conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitter enterprise cost.
Is the Battle on Crypto Actually Over?
Many Bitcoin and crypto proponents who voted for President Trump in 2024 in addition to the crypto business, which supported the president in his reelection, at the moment are starting to query whether or not or not President Trump actually does need to see an finish to the struggle on crypto.
For this to occur, the DOJ beneath President Trump should honor what is remitted in EO 14233 and observe Deputy Legal professional Normal Blanche’s steering to cease prosecuting builders of noncustodial crypto know-how.
To the latter level, President Trump just lately acknowledged that he’s contemplating a pardon for Rodriguez.
His pardoning Rodriguez as properly having the DOJ look into why it offered the bitcoin that the Samourai builders forfeited would ship a sign that the president is sort of severe about his pro-Bitcoin and pro-crypto stance.
